Matt Harvey sat in
his manager’s office last week and asked for another chance. He couldn’t
promise that his fastball would sizzle or that his slider would bite. He
couldn’t guarantee what his arm would produce from pitch to pitch.

This, of course, has been at
the crux of his demise.

The embattled righthander
nevertheless flashed his trademark brashness and insisted on the opportunity to
pull himself from his tailspin. But when his chance came Tuesday night, and he
got used as a piñata in the Mets’ 7-4 loss to the Nationals, Harvey left others
to answer for the latest chapter in his free fall.

Mack – An anti-Harvey
story is an easy thing to write right now. Hell, I’ve been writing about him
for three straight days.

The joke, of course, is that
any of this would be remotely surprising by now. The Mets have abided by the
Harvey Rules from Day 1, have tread lightly around him, have allowed him the
kind of leeway and latitude that should never be afforded someone with 75
career starts, no matter how promising he used to be.

So why wouldn’t he duck and run
now?

Why wouldn’t he leave it for
his manager and his teammates to answer for him, to speak on his behalf, after
another humbling bell-ringing at the hands of the Nationals, another night when
he was less Dark Knight than Pale Pawn, another night when he couldn’t recapture
even a fraction of the old magic?

Mack – You know
my long time stance on Mets writers on basic liberal newspapers. They are no
better than the folks that report on Donald Trump on the new York times.

I hope Matt saves
a copy of these stories and taped them to his locker so, when the next time one
of these little, non-athletic people come sucking up to him for a quote, he can
point to the article and tell them to do something to themselves that is
physically impossible.

I’ll tell you one
thing… if Harvey comes back and becomes the All-Star pitcher he once was,
working with these mutants is going to be a big factor before he signs any
extension with this team.

Brian P. Mangan ‏@brianpmangan - deGrom can
pitch with diminished velocity. Harvey can not. Does this speaks volumes about
how seriously they each take their profession?

Mack – Brian makes
a good point here. deGrom’s velocity has been down this year but he has learned
to mix his pitches and aim for the corners. Harvey doesn’t seem to have that
ability (confidence?) this year to do the same. He’s no longer a four-pitch starter.

Update – Terry Collins announced prior to the posting here that Collins will stay in
the rotation and make his next start, scheduled to be against the White Sox.

Wilmer Flores is currently rehabbing and can’t return soon enough. The loss of
Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud, limited availability of David Wright, and lack of return from Ty Kelly, Eric Campbell, and Kevin Plawecki is simply putting too much
pressure on the rest of the healthy ‘bats’ in the lineup.

The plan is for
him to return this weekend. On ‘my team’, he would immediately become my first
baseman and bat sixth in the lineup.

I would be much
happier with one more healthy big bat, but I don’t know who I would trade to
get someone to help. I still think the number one need is a good defensive
catcher that can hit in the.250 range.

Here are the
catchers on the current MLB top 100 prospect list –

#91 – Jorge
Alfaro – Philadelphia

Hit: 40 | Power: 60 | Run: 45 | Arm: 70 | Field: 50

2016 – AA: .351, 3-HR, 21-RBI, .366-OBP

#93 – Reese
McGuire – Pittsburgh

Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 45 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60

2016 – AA: .263, 1-HR, 14-RBI, .368-OBP

The first problem
in finding a decent catcher that can both hit and throw out runners is there
just isn’t that many in baseball. There’s only two on the top 100 prospect list
and, frankly, neither one of those two scream off the page.

I have to tell
you… I was very impressed with catcher Rene Rivera’s throw to second base
yesterday in the third inning. Would it kill us to insert him into the starting
lineup for the next 7-10 days and see if he could raise his .100 batting
average enough to make his defensive skills a ++ to this lineup?

It will be
interesting to see how the Mets line up their rotation after extended time off
on the all-star break. It’s obviously that Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz represent the current 1-2 punch in the rotation. Matz has
definitely earned that role.

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comments:

It' amazes me we're where we are considering we're back to the first half of last year as far as the lineup goes and I expect John Mayberry Jr. to show up any day now. I get that the piling on Harvey situation is over done but it's the big Apple and they smell blood in the water and as much as he was the savior a few years ago and ate up all the attention and along with Boras milked it for all it's worth when you talk the talk you better be able to walk the walk.

Well, the boys in the booth discussed in in length yesterday during the game.

Harvey continued to not talk to the beat press the next morning and, according ti Keith and Ron, this is wrong and puts too much pressure on the other players in the clubhouse. They feel that you have to man up with reportets, especially after a bad outing.

It turned out that Warthen wouldn't talk to them either and it was left to Plawecki to meet with the press

I was a little surprised there wasn't more discussion yesterday when I covered this topic. I think that Lucroy of Milwaukee represents the best catching option for the team if he's obtainable. Kim of Baltimore is the best 1B bet. He delivers high OBP, average AND power. Loney doesn't have any power.

Get Rivera - AND NIMMO - games at first base. The Mets may do nothing to replace Duda, with Wilmer coming back - so it would help to have viable alternatives. Marc Krauss (.223, 8 homers in Vegas) is not the answer.

Danny Muno has hardly played since his horrendous start in AAA - Krauss can sit too, for the benefit of the team in Queens in trying to diversify a few guys who CAN hit on 1B. it should be noted that since his 1 for 23 start, Danny is 8 for 21 and 9 walks. So he has been on base 17 of his last 30 plate appearances. With Dilson, Cecchini, Reynolds (until recently), TJ Rivera and Niuman Romero, Muno however gets little opportunity to play. I am not advocating for Muno to be called up again ever with the Mets, but let Krauss sit and churn things at 1B with an eye on the future.

Though a different team entirely, this season kind of reminds me of last year when they scuffled at the plate, had some injuries and underperformance, but lurked around the top of the standings before they went nuts in August. Hsrvey is not very likable and like Hillary Clinton, seems to make bad (PR) decisions that make him even more unlikable. That said, it would be such a boost to this team if he can get himself sorted. deGrom needs to continue improving as well; top level pitching can cover for offensive shortfalls and this team seems to be built as feast or famine offensively, so five top notch starters are necessary to balance it. I would like to see TDA taking practice reps at 1B (ground balls and footwork) because a bum shoulder likely means teams will be running all over him when he returns and a position change might get him back in the line up soonerAnon Joe F